Phoenix-based Banner Health is entering 2026 with momentum — and urgency. Like many health systems, it faces significant headwinds, including rising costs, regulatory volatility and shifting payer dynamics. President and CEO Amy Perry said the organization is refining strategies to get out in front of these challenges.
“Building on momentum from 2025 is absolutely the case, and accelerating is the key going into 2026,” Ms. Perry told Becker’s. “We have so many headwinds ahead. Where can we get ahead in the work we’re doing, so that when we have these momentous issues — whether it’s fewer people insured because of the [expiration of enhanced ACA premium tax credits], or something else — we’re ready.”
Ms. Perry said Banner has invested heavily in operational discipline, including length of stay and run rate management — key levers many systems are pulling to stabilize amid ongoing expense pressure. Banner reported $338 million in operating income through the first three quarters of 2025, a 2.8% margin, up from $198 million at 1.8% during the same period in 2024.
As 2026 gets underway, Banner is also doubling down on technology, value-based care and workforce strategy. Ms. Perry said the system is moving further from fee-for-service dependency and leaning into models built around prevention, access and long-term outcomes.
“I just reviewed our technology plan for 2026 — we have an incredibly ambitious strategy,” she said. “It’s exciting. I feel really energized going into 2026. Banner is positioned well. We’re not starting on first base — we have a lot of things going for us.”
She added: “It’s going to require an enormous effort, but we have the right strategies, the right foundation, the right culture. Those basic things are going to work in our favor.”
Banner, a 33-hospital system with three academic medical centers and operations across six states, is also an integrated payer through Banner Health Network and partnerships like Banner|Aetna. This dual role allows the system to take a broader view of prevention and population health.
“We want to make sure our employees and our communities have the access they need to the healthcare they need,” Ms. Perry said. “It’s the ‘right place, right time, right service’ mindset. We’ve been looking at each market very distinctly: What does it have? What does it not have? What do we have that’s duplicative and could be pulled back?”
She said Banner began executing on this data-driven, market-specific planning at the end of 2025, particularly in Colorado, where the system is adjusting services to better meet demographic needs.
That level of planning extends into clinical innovation. Ms. Perry said Banner is expanding its use of pharmacogenetics to improve personalization of care and outcomes for its health plan members.
“Are we matching the right drug to the specific member’s needs? How are we leveraging patient information to treat them in a more personalized way — so that there are more significant results, person by person?” she said. “That’s the advantage of being in the member’s world — it’s looking at the person differently from a prevention perspective.”
These initiatives are part of a broader emphasis on equity and sustainability that’s rising across the industry. For Banner, that includes providing about $1 billion in community benefit programs each year — a figure that includes free and discounted care, financial assistance and other community-focused services.
“That’s extraordinary — care and services beyond the business of healthcare,” Ms. Perry said. “Now, with increasing pressure — [such as] more uninsured patients — the question is: How do we take that $1 billion in services and stretch it further with technology, with team care, with different models?”
She said preserving a healthy operating margin is critical to reinvestment and sustainability — but that will increasingly require rethinking how care is delivered.
“We’re not going to be able to do things the same way and achieve the same result. … To maintain [a healthy] margin while seeing less revenue in certain areas, we have to retool how we provide care. That includes tech opportunities, team opportunities, community resources — and hopefully consumer incentives to stay well.”
She also called on systems to deepen their public health role, citing the need for more community education and engagement to shift long-term health outcomes.
“It’s about communication, education, nutrition, fitness — how does it all blend together? How do we coordinate shrinking resources to have the biggest impact?” she said. “There’s no one answer. But if we work toward a common goal, we’ll do better together.”
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